“Smokers have also reduced the average number of cigarettes they smoke per week — down

from 111 cigarettes in 2010 to 96 cigarettes in 2013.”

Health Minister Jack Snelling welcomed the findings which come after advertising and community campaigns pointing out the negative aspects of smoking and risky drinking.

“We have worked hard over many years to reduce the number of South Australians drinking to excess, smoking or taking drugs, particularly in regards to our younger people,” Mr Snelling said.

“We still have a lot more work to do but any report that shows progress is being made is pleasing.”

The report found the proportion of 12—17 year olds who had never smoked was at 95 per cent, and the proportion of 18—24 year olds who had never smoked increased between 2010 and 2013 from 72 per cent to 77 per cent.

The age at which 14 to 24-year-olds smoked their first full cigarette was almost 16, rising from

“Implementing measures to de-normalise smoking has been of critical importance because we know that most smokers begin smoking when they’re young, before they understand the risk, and due to the addictive qualities of nicotine, many remain addicted for life,” she said.

“Any indication that more young people are not taking up the deadly habit of smoking is a positive sign.

The survey of almost 24,000 households also showed younger people are continuing to delay their first alcoholic drink.

The age at which 14 to 24-year-olds first tried alcohol rose from 14.4 to 15.7 years of age between 1998 and 2013 while the proportion abstaining rose from 64 per cent to 72 per cent between 2010 and 2013.

There was mixed news in the people aged 14 and over who reported being a victim of an alcohol-related incident in 2013 — while it fell from 29 per cent to 26 per cent this was still almost five million people.

Excessive use of alcohol continues to be the drug issue that people feel is of the most concern to the general community, identified by about four in 10 respondents.

The report also showed a fall in the use of ecstasy (from 3 per cent to 2.5 per cent), heroin (from 0.2 per cent to 0.1 per cent) and GHB (from 0.1 per cent to less than 0.1 per cent).

However, the misuse of pharmaceuticals rose from 4.2 per cent in 2010 to 4.7 per cent in 2013 and the use of meth/amphetamine remained at a similar level to 2010.

The National Drug Strategy Household Survey is conducted every two-to-three years.

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